That driving maneuver when someone spins their car in tight circles while accelerating, leaving the car’s rear wheels to do a burnout, is called doing donuts. Although front-wheel vehicles can do burnouts (only in reverse), donuts are typically done with all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive vehicles. Burnout is the practice of keeping a car static while spinning the wheels. The resulting friction from this action causes the tires to heat up and smoke. This often creates a loud screeching sound, a dramatic display, and leaves skid marks on the road that may not disappear for several months. Donuts are typically burnouts in which the steering wheel is turned in one direction.
Doing donuts was not always a thing until car racers like Alex Zanardi and Dale Earnhardt made it popular. Alex, a former racer with Formula One, introduced the celebratory spin in the CART series (now defunct) in 1996. Similarly, after winning the Daytona 500, Dale carved the number “3,” his car’s number, in the grass to celebrate his victory, a display that marked the birth of victory donuts in the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). Today, doing donuts has become popular in car shows, particularly for entertainment purposes for car enthusiasts in those shows.
While doing donuts can be very entertaining and exciting, it comes with many risks, including potential damage to different car parts. This article addresses such potential damages and analyzes which vehicle components are at risk of strains caused by aggressive maneuvers while doing donuts.
Is Doing Donuts Bad for Your Car?
Yes, donut driving can be bad for your car, depending on its condition and age, especially if the donut was not done properly. Aggressive maneuvers and accelerating a car in a tight circle undoubtedly stress its parts and can lead to significant wear and tear. This is even truer when those components are already weak. For instance, if your car’s cooling system is already faulty, abusing the gas pedal while driving donuts will only worsen the cooling system as you build up heat.
Aggressively locking your car’s steering wheel while doing donuts is not ideal for the power steering system. The power steering pump can quickly wear out. Also, doing donuts strains your car’s transmission and puts tremendous stress on the drivetrain components. Overall, the extensive damage sustained by your car components while driving donuts can lead to costly repairs. Common car parts susceptible to damage from doing donuts include the following:
Tires
As exciting and pleasurable as it can be, doing donuts is not good for your tires, especially when done on dry pavement. Even while done on snow, slamming the gas pedal could force the tires to spin, which will eventually melt the snow, leading your tires to touch the ground. Car tires are usually the most harmed when driving donuts, depending on the difficulty and the number of maneuvers. The constant spinning of the tires and friction against the ground cause swirling smoke and an intense smell of rubber. That rubber smell is a sign of rapid wear, which could lead to a tire blowout. A tire blowout may not be a pleasurable experience, especially if you have never had one before.
Suspension System
Doing donuts requires making excessively tight turns while holding down the front wheels while the rear wheels spin. Unfortunately, such extremely tight and hard turns with the transmission and clutch can strain your car’s suspension, wearing out the stabilizer bar, shock absorbers, tie rods, springs, linkages, ball joints, arm (upper and lower), and knuckle arm. While the damage may be less for donuts driving on snow, it is always worse if done off-road where there are pits or on bare pavements. Regardless of where a driving donut was done, repair costs for a worn-out suspension system can run into thousands of dollars. Imagine making such a payment out of pocket.
Transmission and Drivetrain
Your car drivetrains, which typically include the transmission, CV joints, engine, driveshaft, differentials, and axles, bear the brunt of donut driving abuse. Doing donuts can wreck your vehicle’s drivetrain and, consequently, the transmission. Slamming the gas pedal and abruptly applying the brakes repeatedly at relatively high speeds can overheat the entire system of your car. The high temperature could ruin the car’s transmission and damage other components that make up the drivetrain if the vehicle cannot handle the thermal stress and cool itself down. For example, if the car gains traction while spinning, the gears could slip, causing the vehicle to lose speed and engine power. Interestingly, your car is not likely to run smoothly or correctly with a ruined drivetrain and transmission.
Engine Stress
Doing donuts with your car can put excessive stress on its engine. For example, high revs (RPMs) for a long duration in a continuous turn or spin can stop oil from flowing back into the pan and get it all pumped to the outside valve cover. Typically, high RPMs (revolutions per minute) can cause thermal stress in engines, and doing this frequently, especially in driving donuts, increases the chances of wear and tear in engine components. For instance, it could damage the engine mounts and internal components like pistons and valves.
Brakes
Typically, your brake pads wear out after several months of use with moderate acceleration. So, you can imagine what happens to them when driving aggressively, as with donut driving. Constant repeated acceleration and stopping while doing donuts can negatively impact your car’s braking system. This is because excessive use of the brakes could cause the rotors and brake pads to overheat, potentially damaging them.
Differential and Axles
A vehicle differential delivers power from the engine to the axle during transmission, which ultimately turns the wheels. The tight turns and excessive constant spinning while driving donuts can strain your vehicle’s differential and axle. The stress could worsen and excessively damage these two components when doing donuts in off-road environments or sand pits where you will likely get varying traction levels.
Tips for Minimizing Damage
Doing donuts on public streets is considered reckless and, depending on location, could be illegal. It is best to perform donuts in a safe and controlled environment because it is risky – you could end up losing control of the vehicle. Empty, lonely parking lots are recommended places for driving donuts.
Donuts cause severe damage to a car, as exciting as it can be. However, this may not be a bother for you if you can learn how to minimize such damage. The following are some practical ways of keeping down the level of potential damage to your car while still doing donuts with your favorite car:
- Use good tires with even tread and accurate pressure.
- Avoid having excessive weight in your car while doing donuts to prevent excess pressure on the tires.
- Ensure an adequate and optimal fluid level in your car cooling system to enable the vehicle to cool itself down while doing those repeated starting and stopping.
- If you are a chronic donut performer who spins their vehicle frequently, you may weld your car’s differentials together. This will protect the axle and reduce power loss from the driveshaft.
- Ensure regular inspection and maintenance of your vehicle components. Avoid waiting till the damage gets bad before making necessary repairs.
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